African Development Bank To Launch $3bn Infrastructure Fund

African Development Bank plans to launch a $3bn infrastructure fund to raise money to deliver on vital infrastructure on the continent.

The money will be raised from regional and non-African pension funds, insurance groups, sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors. The fund, to be known as Africa50, will help the continent in delivering vital infrastructure through a new globa l partnership platform.

To deliver on Africa's current infrastructure pipeline, including Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), Africa50 will need an equity investment of USD 10 billion, thereby attracting USD 100 billion worth of local and global capital.

To begin operations, Africa50 targets raising USD 3bn in equity capital, to establish credibility with governments, private developers and financial markets. Depending on funding needs and the project pipeline, Africa50 will augment its financial capacity by raising debt in the international capital markets.

In order to ensure reliable access to capital markets while also offering additional operational flexibility, Africa50 will target an investment grade rating of single A.

The African Development Bank proposal says that Africa50's critical objectiv e is to shorten the time between project idea and financial close -from a current average of 7 years to less than 3 years, thereby delivering a critical mass of infrastructure in Africa in the short-to-medium term.

"Africa50 builds on AfDB's recent successes in overcoming early-stage bottlenecks to infrastructure projects, mobilizing political support for necessary reforms, and deploying skilled experts to work along-side government."